Micaela
by Kyouryoku Senshi
Summary: Post MSIV. Just a ton of fluff after Scully has the baby. And maybe a little surprise.
1. Chapter 1

Title: Micaela

Author: KS

Rating: G

Summary: Just a ton of fluff after Scully has the baby. And maybe a little surprise.

A/N: Many thanks to my BETA, WildwingSuz!

Mulder looked down at the tiny bundle in his arms. Their little miracle was fast asleep. She was already worn out from her big day as was her mother. He looked over to see that Scully was fast asleep. "You may not know it yet, but your mother is the most amazing person I know," he whispered as he thought back to how difficult and challenging Scully's pregnancy had been due to her age. He would never be able to thank her enough for making him a father to this tiny being. As if on cue, the baby's eyes slipped open and she mewled. "You are our little miracle," he whispered as he smoothed down the tuft of copper hair and lifted her to kiss her head. "We love you so much."

Mulder looked over to catch Scully gazing at them sleepily. He rewarded her with a wide smile and moved to hand the fussing baby to her. She sat up in the hospital bed as she received the baby. The hospital gown she was in was growing uncomfortable. Tiny arms waved about to indicate her dissatisfaction at being moved from her father's arms. "Hey there, baby girl," she whispered. The infant quieted instantly at the familiar sound of her mother's voice. Mulder and Scully had talked to the baby a lot while Scully was pregnant. She had explained that babies could make the distinction of their parents' voices fairly early while in utero.

"Have you decided on a name?" Mulder asked. Scully gazed down at their daughter who began rooting for the source of her food. Gently, she moved the baby's mouth towards her chest as she exposed one of her breasts and helped her latch on. It was another one of the many ways his partner was amazing. Not only because she was a doctor, but she had done this before. Even if it was many years ago.

"How about Micaela?" Scully asked. "My mom said if she'd had another daughter, she would have named her Michaela, because it means "God's gift" and well, she is. Sometimes, I still wake up wondering if this is real."

Mulder nodded. "It's beautiful, just like her."

"There are so many ways to spell it nowadays though," Scully laughed.

"At least it isn't Fox," he smiled.

"I was thinking of Micaela, but without the "h", that way people don't confuse it with "Mitch"."

"It's perfect, Scully."

Mulder smiled as she watched his daughter suckle hungrily at her mother's breast. He looked up at Scully. Her free hand was stroking the tiny arm that rested against her chest. "You told me you had wanted another child, and then told me in that church that you wanted another chance to start over and make things right. I lit that candle not because I believe in God, but because I believe in you. And then you told me a week later that I was a father," his voice broke. "But you know me, I want to believe, and I believe our daughter is a gift from God," he added with a teary chuckle. "I'd never thought I'd say this, but her existence makes me believe."

Tears welled in Scully's eyes as she looked back down at her daughter. She had beautiful eyes and only time would tell if she would have her or Mulder's eye coloring.

"I just wish my mom was here to see her. She had always wanted a granddaughter," her voice broke and the tears spilled over her cheeks. It was difficult holding back. Technically Emily was her granddaughter, but she died before Scully could be a mother to her.

"I know. She'd love her. She does. The dead aren't lost to us," he reminded her.

Scully imagined that her mother would say the baby was a gift from God. Especially since she was infertile and pregnant at fifty four. Her mother had told her about St. Rachel when she was much younger. A saint that was infertile and became pregnant late in life. The name of that motel they stayed in. She couldn't believe she didn't realize it sooner.

Mulder leaned down and kissed Scully's forehead. He reached out and stroked the baby's tiny cheek as she nursed.

Scully missed the close bond she had shared with her mother. The same bond she'd desperately wanted to have with Emily before she passed. It was the connection only a mother and daughter had. She hoped she would have that same bond with their daughter.

"I want to be able to give her everything that Mom gave us."

Mulder sat down on the bed next to Scully and their daughter. "We will. Age isn't going to change how much we love her." The baby had stopped suckling and Scully pulled the top part of her hospital gown back up as she moved to burp the baby with expertise.

"How about Micaela Margaret, after your mother?" Mulder suggested.

Scully pulled the baby back once she finished nursing and gazed down at her. "It's perfect. She's perfect."

"Just like you," Mulder smiled. "You still got it goin' on," he teased.

Scully narrowed her eyes at him. "I'm going to kill you if you say 'scoot in your boot' one more time, Mulder. That's what got us into this situation," she said knowing full well she'd do it all over again.

She'd had mixed feelings when she first found out she was pregnant so late in life, but she loved and wanted this child no matter how impossible it was. She knew Mulder did too.

The newly-named Micaela watched her parents as Mulder moved in to kiss her mother with a fierce passion. She mewled and tiny hands reached towards their faces.

Mulder pulled back a bit and they both stifled their laughter at their daughter's protests. That was when a nurse came into the room to check on Scully.

"I'll be right back, I need to use the boys' room."

Scully nodded. "Okay, don't be long."

Scully looked down at her daughter, her eyes full of love. "I love you so much, I need you to know that." William had told her that he knew she loved him, although it was when he was disguised as Mulder. She still felt the need to make sure her child knew every day, even if she was never great at verbalizing her feelings. The baby cooed in response. When she first found out she was pregnant, Scully had no idea how she was going to do this again at fifty-four. She was in utter shock, yet she felt an immediate connection to the tiny being growing inside of her. Despite a difficult pregnancy, Scully yearned for this moment. "I'd do it all over again, just for you."

Micaela crooned in agreement.

Mulder returned in less than three minutes. "Hey,"

"That was fast," Scully said.

"Can't stay away from my girls long," he chuckled.

Scully's arms were growing tired. "Could you take her?" She needed to stretch desperately, as much as she didn't want to move her sleeping daughter.

Mulder gently took her into his arms and rocked her. "Hey there," he whispered.

.

The baby opened her eyes and mewled. It was a scene that melted Scully's heart.

He rocked the baby for a moment and then looked up suddenly as if he forgot something and handed the baby back to Scully, who looked at him curiously.

"I'm going to grab some coffee, I'll be right back."

Scully nodded and smiled. "You better."

The baby started whimpering once Mulder left. "Hey sweetheart, it's okay. Daddy will be back soon, okay?"

As if on cue, Mulder walked back into the hospital room. Without the coffee.

"No coffee?" Scully asked curiously.

Mulder stopped and looked at her. "No, I'm good. Just had to use the restroom. Why?"

Scully's mouth opened slowly in startling realization.

Mulder grew worried. "What is it, Scully? Was I supposed to get you coffee? I'm sorry-"

Scully looked back at him in shock. "Mulder, he was here!"

"Who?"

"William... Jackson," she said as she gently rocked the baby.

Mulder gave her a puzzled look.

"He was here, Mulder. After you left... you came back and held our daughter and then said you had to go get coffee." She started to get up.

"No, Scully. You can't, he reminded her. Her recovery would take a while longer since she had a C-section.

Before she could protest, he ran into the hallway outside the hospital room and looked around. Even though part of him knew it was futile, he hurried down the corridors, much to the surprise of the staff.

He finally gave up after several minutes of looking.

In the distance, Jackson, while disguised as a nurse, watched as Mulder returned to join Dana in her hospital room. That had been very close. Mulder had nearly run into him, so he had to make the visit with his sister fast. She was beautiful and looked a lot like their mother, and he could see Mulder in her eyes and skin tone.

One thing was clear, they were dead set on finding him. Even now. He had wanted them to believe he was dead so that they could move on, but he still couldn't control all of the visions that he knew connected him with his mother. She knew he was alive.

He assumed that Mulder knew by now that Jackson, or William as they called him, wasn't biologically his child, but that didn't stop the man from chasing after him.

He knew they both loved him, but how much was hard for him to contemplate at times. No one else had cared that much, other than his adoptive parents, the Van De Kamps. They had already died because of him and he was determined that no harm would come to anyone else he loved.

The danger seemed to be over though, at least for now. The man that called himself his creator was dead.

Maybe he could go home to them someday.

END


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: I felt inspired to write this piece and thought I'd add it to this story. :)

Jackson had dropped by the Unremarkable House a few months after the baby was born. If he were honest with himself, he didn't really know how he'd fit into their lives. He was a freak, at least that was how he felt. He had been an outcast. The baby was an innocent human being. She shared the same alien DNA that he shared with their mother, but that was about the extent of it. Being in their lives would only bring them harm. Plus, growing up as an only child, he didn't know how to interact with babies and felt awkward around them. That was why it came as a shock when his birth mother asked if he wanted to hold her.

She said the baby's name was Micaela. In that moment, he knew his nickname for her would be Kayla.

"Did you want to hold her?"

Jackson shoved his hands into his pockets and looked at the floor awkwardly. "Uh...I don't know. I'm not really good with kids," he said.

He didn't have to look up in order to see the disappointment in her features. "I've never held a baby before, I don't want to hurt her or anything," he added quickly.

Jackson looked up to see Scully's features soften.

Scully looked back at the baby in her arms. "You won't. Here," she said as she shifted the baby slightly in her arms.

Jackson hesitantly held out his arms as Dana moved to place the baby in them. "You just need to support her head, like this," she instructed.

He did as he was told and relaxed slightly. The tiny redhead opened her eyes and looked up at him. She was beautiful. She looked a lot like Dana, but he saw Mulder in her too. Kayla's gaze didn't waver. It was almost as if she was looking through him and into his soul.

'Don't look there, kid' he thought. 'I'm not a good person, I've done bad things.'

The child in his arms was innocent and oblivious to the harsh realities of life. Most people he knew had been afraid of him and his powers, but it was if this tiny person was telling him it would be okay.

Just then, she placed a tiny hand on his chest. Jackson felt a sense of calm wash over him, followed by love and adoration. It was unlike anything he had ever felt before. The baby's eyes began to droop and she let out a small yawn. She was content and comfortable in his arms.

He felt Dana and Mulder watching him and he looked up to see their faces full of love. His face flushed with embarrassment.

"She loves you," Dana said.

"Oh, I don't know about that."

"I've never seen her so relaxed before," Mulder added.

As he watched the sleeping baby, he felt that just maybe things would be okay.

END


	3. Chapter 3

Special thanks to Marina Frenzy for help on this chapter.

Mulder had just finished telling his daughter yet another bedtime story based on one of the many cases he and her mother had investigated together.

"I want another story, Daddy!" whined the little girl.

"I'm sorry, angel, but you need to go to bed now," he said as he leaned forward and kissed her forehead.

"I want Mommy to tuck me in," the small redhead insisted, while hugging her stuffed fox tightly to her chest. It was her favorite stuffed animal. Mulder had gotten it for her at the fair when she was just a baby and they have been inseparable ever since.

Mulder chuckled. "Okay, I'll go get Mommy."

When Mulder left the room, he nearly bumped into an unamused Scully. Her arms folded over her chest, eyebrow raised, she looked like she was about to scold him. It was adorable. She was beautiful, she had grown her hair out again and he loved it long.

"What?" he asked innocently.

"You're going to give her nightmares."

"I kept it G rated," he insisted.

Scully rolled her eyes and kept her smirk hidden as she passed him into her daughter's room. "Time for bed, baby girl."

Micaela smiled as her mother sat on the edge of her bed and pulled the covers over her. The little girl eyed the golden crucifix around Scully's neck. She reached forward and touched it with her tiny hand. Scully was startled by the movement.

It was like déjà vu. She recalled a familiar memory, Emily, the little girl she never had the chance to know was fascinated by her necklace much in the same way her daughter was now. Her breath caught in her throat.

"You like that, huh?"

She hadn't known Emily long, but Micaela resembled her in so many ways.

"It's pretty, you wear it a lot."

Scully looked down at the golden necklace and then back at her daughter. "My mom gave it to me many years ago as a Christmas present."

"Grandma Maggie?"

"Yes, she gave me and my sister, Aunt Missy, one also. It means God is with you. He'll watch over you wherever you go."

Scully fought back a sudden rush of tears.

"Can I wear it?" asked Micaela.

Scully smiled and nodded. She reached to remove the clasp of the necklace.

Micaela moved her hair out of the way as Scully fastened the necklace around her daughter's neck.

The little girl admired the gold pendant in awe.

"Goodnight Sweetheart," she whispered as she kissed her daughter's forehead.

"Night Mommy," the tiny redhead responded.

Scully smiled as she tucked her daughter in before turning off the light.

They were celebrating their daughter's fifth birthday that weekend and Kayla was growing more excited as each day passed. Their daughter was a fury of red hair and a bundle of energy as she raced through the living room and tossed her backpack onto the sofa.

"Who's my girl?!" Mulder said as he went to tickle her sides.

"No tickling, Daddy!"

Mulder stopped momentarily when he saw a glimmer of gold around his daughter's neck. He brushed Micaela's hair back to see Scully's gold cross necklace. "Did Mommy give that to you?" he asked.

Kayla smiled. "Yes, it's pretty."

Mulder nodded. "I see. Well, you take care of it, okay?"

Micaela nodded as she toyed with the small chain in her hands. "It's really important to Mommy."

"I know."

Neither Mulder nor Scully were used to the hustle and bustle of children and parents moving about the house at their daughter's birthday party. Of course, most of the parents were considerably younger, except for a few who were in their forties. Having children later in life was becoming more common for economic reasons, but no one was nearly as old as them.

To their surprise, Jackson had also stopped by.

"Jack!" Micaela cried in excitement and ran towards him. He picked her up and swung her around until Scully warned him not to make her too dizzy.

He had recently graduated college with his bachelor's degree in Psychology and was figuring out what to do next. It didn't stop him, however, from maintaining a close bond with his little sister. It was very similar to the one he shared with Scully.

Another mom, one of the older ones in the group approached Scully as she watched Jackson give his sister a piggyback ride. Kayla loved piggyback rides, though it was getting more challenging for Mulder as his daughter grew bigger and the years caught up with him.

"Is that-" the other mother started.

"Her brother," Scully said quickly with a smile. "Jackson."

She watched as the other woman's eyes went wide, but just for a moment.

"Oh wow, there's quite an age difference huh?"

Scully shrugged. To her own surprise, she didn't mind having this conversation. "I discovered I couldn't have children some time ago. He was our first, it was a miracle you could say and I accepted he would be my only child...until I found out I was pregnant again seventeen years later."

The other woman was clearly impressed. "What a blessing. God works in mysterious ways," she smiled. Scully liked this particular mother because she was a Catholic church goer. It was nice to have some common ground.

"Yeah," Scully said, preoccupied in thought as she observed her children.

She watched as the other mother went back to the crowd of parents.

"Scully, there you are," Mulder said as he approached her donning sunglasses, a beer in his hand.

He caught her gaze and watched Micaela with Jackson until they made their way back to the group. "It's really amazing isn't it? We're parents to a five year old and a twenty two year old."

"Yeah, it is," she whispered wistfully.

Later that evening, after they sorted through the array of gifts their daughter received, the four of them sat together on the couch. Micaela's eyes began to droop, and she rested her head on Jackson's shoulder as he played a tile-matching game on his phone.

Scully looked over at Mulder, together they had picked out an extra special present that they wanted to save for last...once all the guests had left. Something just for the family.

Mulder nodded, then Scully went to retrieve the small surprise from their bedroom and quickly returned down the stairs. "Micaela, honey, I hope you have some energy for one last present."

Like a cat or dog hearing the sound of food hitting the bowl, she jumped up from the couch like the little sprite she was. "Is it a puppy?!" she exclaimed excitedly. Her greenish blue eyes were full of hope. It was hard to tell whose eye coloring she inherited. Sometimes they were green and sometimes they were blue depending on how the light hit them.

Mulder chuckled. "I told you we should have gotten a dog, Scully," he teased.

She looked at him and narrowed her eyes, but he could tell that just for a moment she seemed to consider. "Not a puppy," she said as she watched the child's face turn into a pout. Jackson laughed.

"Christmas is only a few months away, kid," Jackson reminded her.

Both Mulder and Scully gave him an exasperated look. One he knew all too well as _"Don't get her started already"._

"But it is something special," Scully continued. Mulder and Jackson looked up as Micaela eagerly opened the shiny wrapping paper.

Slowly she opened the box and her eyes lit up. "It's Mommy's necklace!"

Scully smiled as she watched her daughter's tiny hand hold the gold chain in her fingers.

"This one is actually all yours, just for you, Sweetie. Now we match," she said, tears lacing her voice.

Micaela recalled the story her mom had told her as Scully moved to help her place the identical necklace around her neck. She pulled her identical long, ginger hair out of the way, as she fastened the clasp and watched her daughter play with the small crucifix.

Scully watched with tears in her eyes as her daughter admired it and as she did so often, she wondered what it would have been like to have her mother here. She would have loved to have a granddaughter to spoil, of that she was sure. She and her mother had always been close and she hope to have that same connection with her daughter for years to come.

Suddenly Scully was startled out of her thoughts by the sound of her daughter's voice. "Thank you Mommy, but now can we get a puppy for Christmas?!"

"Maybe if you pray really hard, Santa might get you one," Mulder said with a wink. Jackson laughed and rolled his eyes before returning to his phone.

Scully sighed and looked at Mulder who smiled. Somehow she knew the next bedtime story he'd be telling their daughter was how her mommy prayed for a puppy.


End file.
